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Justice for infanticide

Many people, no doubt, would like to see Philadelphia abortion doctor and murderer Kermit Gosnell executed for his gruesome crimes — snipping the spinal cords of just-delivered babies that were alive and squirming.

But the fact he will spend the rest of his life in prison, with no chance of parole and no opportunity to appeal his multiple murder convictions is a reasonable resolution to this horrific case. It is also evidence that our justice system continues to reach the right conclusions in most cases, even highly contentious, high-profile cases.

Gosnell gave up his right to appeal in a last–minute deal with prosecutors in which they agreed not to seek the death penalty. If he had been sentenced to death, or if he had maintained his right to appeal, continuing court proceedings might have kept his case going indefinitely, without a final resolution.

For many people, the Gosnell case was an indictment of our abortion laws in general, and they condemned the national media for not paying enough attention to that case.

But the jurors in the case didn’t get into that debate. They correctly concentrated only on the evidence before them — the reports, photos and witness testimony that showed Gosnell’s clinic had turned into a filthy abortion factory where he repeatedly violated state law to perform abortions after 24 weeks, and dispatched babies born alive as if they were garbage.

Gosnell was convicted of three counts of killing babies, one count of killing an adult woman and hundreds of lesser charges. It is justice that he will never see freedom again.